Bay Area Round-Up…

The news was hardly a surprise, quite expected in fact, nevertheless as I saw the initial crawl hit the media wire last week that KRON-TV, Channel 4 had declared bankruptcy, I was still stunned and deeply saddened.

Technically, Young Broadcasting, the parent company that owns Channel 4, was the company that finally went bk, but it is what it is, to steal the worst saying in mankind. Young’s PR brass quickly sent out a memo that the filing wouldn’t result in any staff reduction or layoffs. Right. “Business as usual.”

In fact, word soon came out in media circles that weekend sports anchor Vern Glenn was about to be “dispatched.” I called KRON and tried in vain to get word about Glenn’s status, and nobody wanted to talk. Instead I got relentless visits to his voice mail. Although two sources told me he was on his way out; sad if true, because Vern is a decent guy. Solid professional.

When I think of KRON, I think of the old nostalgic days of San Francisco. 1001 Van Ness, the KRON building near the old “Jack Tar Hotel” which is long gone, replaced by another ordinary, mundane chain.

The Jack Tar was noted for its checkerboard, parquet look, very un-SF on an avenue that used to be Auto Row in the 70′s and early 80′s that is now simply just another SF retail street dominated by cheeky chains and a few left-over car dealerships.

So, KRON is now the dial of infomercials occasionally interrupted by local TV news. It still has Gary Radnich, who is still funny and can crack the occasional wise remark to co-anchor Pam Moore.

These days, however, Radnich’s daily satirical KRON putdowns almost border on the surreal side. Word is anyone who’s anyone at the venerable SF station wants desperately, but given today’s endless minefield called the local TV/radio/newspaper landscape, might want to look elsewhere in these crazy times.

MORE MEDIA NOTES: More gut-check time at KQED too, as the local PBS outlet announced it would cut 13% of its annual budget, due to, yes, sagging corporate support.

Like KRON, KQED said that no on-air talent at its TV/radio conduits would be affected, but expect a reduction of more locally-produced shows, which is a bummer because I like the restaurant review show called “Check Please.” I was also hoping that one day soon, KQED would produce a local version of the Charlie Rose show, one of the best interview programs in the country.

KTVU’s 10 o’clock News has weathered the storm of Dennis Richmond’s retirement last May and Frank Sommerville and Julie Haener look and sound like they’ve been together for years…at CBS5, Ken Bastida and Dana King are the most solid duo in local TV news; now if only they could de-perk perpetually perky weather-lady Roberta Gonzales, geez, that would be great. Hank Plante is the best political reporter on TV and, yes, even Matier can do the best one-on-one with Willie Brown on any given morning…

RADIO DAZE: Just the other day, I was chatting with a media buddy about the sad state of local radio. Although KGO seems to be in a creative malaise, Ronn Owens still reigns supreme from 9-Noon, as evidenced by his utterly superb interview of former President Carter. Owens rightfully challenged Carter on some of his more blatant, misguided, biased opinions on Israel and the Palestinians. Carter, on the defensive, was polite, but Ronn frankly made mincemeat of him, and it sounded quite entertaining…KSFO, “hot-talk,” they call it, seems to be hell bent on attracting the right-wing, conservative echo-machine out in the burbs of Concord and Walnut Creek, but morning-it disturber, Brian Sussman tries too hard to ruffle feathers and his blatant Obama mocking is nowhere near the Limbaugh avenue he’s so eagerly trying to maneuver…KCBS: Solid, steady, and still the best news source 24/7 with Stan Bunger one of the best radio news guy in the business, ditto KGO’s Ed Baxter…KNBR? Can it get any worse? Yes, it can. The so-called “Sports Leader” has talented Damon Bruce waiting in the wings to get to prime time, and afternoon duo, Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert, (The Razor and Mr. T) have an entertaining four-hour mix of sports talk, concise interviews, Internet chit-chat and occasional Ralphie rants about why the Giants should sign Manny Ramirez. At times, Ralph goes overboard, but his one-on-one with clearly uncomfortable Giants Prez. Larry Baer was mildly hysterical and funny. Too bad KNBR was intimidated enough by the baseball brass to remove the 20-minute classic from its web site….The “Boss of the Bay” is back, albeit on the web: KYA 1260 is now playing “Golden Gate greats,” but you’ll have to have a computer to listen… Pleased to report that the cool station of the 70′s, my wake-up, AM-radio nirvana is also back: KFRC, 1550 AM is spinning hits like 1976′s “Disco Duck”, Donna Summer’s “Love to love you baby. The only thing missing is hearing the late, great Dr. Don Rose blurting out “Sacra-tomato!” and “San-RAQUEL!” Gosh, those were the days, my friend.

I was at Tommy’s Joynt on Van Ness taking in the NBA all-star game, (yawn) and tasting a few brews and ran into “Media Joe” who lamented the fact that the ‘joynt is the best ‘brau in the city. I agree, especially when my buddy Joe buys; the beer tastes even better… Had a chance to hit the new Perry’s on the Embarcadero and can now say in certainty, THIS is what a real “NY-like” saloon looks like. Food is good, the bar is awesome, with great lighting, two nice TVs at both ends of the bar and great atmosphere even if you can’t find a parking space if your life depended on it, but hey, it’s SF, the city that knows how, except when it comes to parking….

FINALLY….Can we all have a moratorium on any future octuplets, sextuplets, story? Please, I’m sick of it all already.

See ya next week – if not sooner

RICH LIEBERMAN CAN BE HEARD DAILY ON KTRB, THE NEW AM 860, AND NW HOME TO THE OAKLAND A’S.